Growing Pains
by Myka Myth
Summary: Odin punishes Loki based on his behavior rather than his age after the events in the Avengers. Afterwards, he is sent to back to Earth deprived of his magic and power so that he may patch up his transgressions with non-other than Thor as his caretaker. Warning: Contains non-sexual spanking. Don't like? Don't read!


**Author: **Myka20

**Rating: **R just to be safe.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Avengers or any of the characters who rightfully belong to Marvel nor am I earning money from this.

**Summary**: Odin punishes Loki based on his behavior rather than his age after the events in the Avengers. Afterwards, he is sent to back to Earth deprived of his magic and power so that he may patch up his transgressions with non-other than Thor as his caretaker. Warning: Contains non-sexual spanking.

**Partner in crime**: spankingfemfatale ;)

**A/N: **Quite a harsh punishment is in store for our favorite trickster :P He's been pratically begging for it all along though. Maybe he'll actually learn something for once *Insert sinister music* :) You know what they say, be careful what you wish for!

* * *

_``Growing Pains``_

Bound and beaten, Loki Laufeyson calmly followed his blonde-headed buffoon of a sibling down the street corner and into the middle of the pathway. His shoes clicked soundly as he casually matched his brother's nonchalant pace. Pensive green eyes ran up and down Thor's form as Loki attempted to determine his brother's current mood. Thor didn't seem angry, nor was he irritated in the least. He seemed more calm and collective then when they first descended onto this God-forsaken planet.

In fact, gone was the livid static electricity surging through Thor's deep blue eyes. Now, the wrath was replaced by a glint that revealed that Thor knew exactly what he was doing and how he was going to do it. For some reason, Loki expected his brother to be joyful that he had won the war and captured his insane sibling all in one day. Instead, Thor was composed and seemed not to mind that Loki was once again halted in his sinister plots.

Irritated, Loki gave up trying to read his brother and tried to maneuver his jaw despite the overly tight muzzle. His efforts were in vain, so he settled for clenching his fists, a hint of a scowl deepening the creases on his forehead.

Loki didn't have to turn around to know that the rest of the "Avengers" were trailing behind the two of them with their arrogant heads held high. Loki thought it hilarious, how they assumed that they had won a war when in reality this was simply the beginning. Sure, they had successfully fought off his army of genetic aliens which couldn't easily be replaced… but… somehow… he'd receive his vengeance over Earth, Thor, the Hulk and…everyone!

Revenge wouldn't be easy considering how difficult this expedition had been to even attempt; not to mention how gruesome it had ended. Loki couldn't simply say to gather his next fleet would be a walk in the park. No, he had to admit that Earth had made their impression. Loki would no longer underestimate their talents. Neither would he simply embrace failure with open arms. Earth would have its day, and he would show them the nature of true subjection. The piercing grief of this catastrophe would fuel his everlasting rage, and he would direct his anger onto more positive matters concerning himself and himself alone.

Loki was snapped out of his thoughts when the Tesseract's capsule was lowered by Thor for him to operate. He hesitated, the mere sight of the thing no longer dwelling in his control making the reality of his failure even that more agonizing. Begrudgingly, Loki grasped the handle and twisted it.

The raven-haired god refused to meet the blissful eyes of the mortals witnessing him and Thor's departure from their planet, gladness dancing in their foolish hearts as they basked in the glory of winning the war.

Now they watched the cause of their war being transferred to 'what they thought' capable hands. Foolish mortals, so quick to trust and so swift to thrust their issues into someone else's hands rather than settle their own differences squarely. Loki released the breathe he hadn't even released he was holding as he felt everything around him go numb a grand light embracing the both of them to transport the godlings to their set destination and leave the humans behind in their dust.

As the new environment materialized right before their eyes, Loki felt his heart skip several beats. Dear gods, did he honestly forget what was awaiting him back at home? He didn't think it possible, but he had anyway. He had forgotten all about the inevitable confrontation he'd have with his father, it would be none too kind of an altercation, either.

Loki had been away from Asgard for so long, planning and scheming plans involving the Chitauri that he had doubted ever returning. Though, here he was now standing within the familiar hallways of his father's castle.

Loki struggled to swallow the lump in his throat that had somehow formed as his eyes traced the castle to note that it's innermost structure hadn't changed in the least, thus leading him to think that perhaps Odin's verdicts hadn't changed either and his sentence would be the same as always.

Odin would obviously be furious by his rash actions. They hadn't exactly been on peaceful terms the former time they'd seen each other either. In fact, the last time he laid eyes upon his father was when he was plummeting down into an unknown abyss after his attempted use of the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim.

During that time he had sent the destroyer to New Mexico to annihilate Thor in front of his beloved Jane. He would have probably walked away victorious had the warriors three not interfered, not to mention Heimdall's unwillingness to accept his rule in lieu of their incapacitated king. That had been the day when Thor officially proclaimed responsibility over the vulnerable waste of space known as 'Earth.' To this day, Thor still remained loyally devoted to that pathetic excuse of a planet.

Loki frowned as he thought on the past, to focusing back to his father and their inevitable conversation.

Would Odin be furious enough to resort to strangling the haughtiness directly out of him? Loki imagined his father's angry paws wrapped tightly around his neck as he writhed uselessly in his grip, the air in his lungs fleeing him as he was violently suffocated. Loki winced as his nails pierced into his fists from tightening his hands anxiously. Perfect. Loki thought sarcastically. Brute force was the very last thing he desired.

"Ah."

Loki's eyes snapped up out of their trance of self-pity only to meet his brother's pleased expression.

"Feeling remorseful now are we brother?" Thor remarked, grinning as he slapped a palm on his wayward sibling's shoulder, steering him into Odin's courts direction.

Loki should have known better then to resist Thor's grip because his useless struggling only enhanced the sinking feeling he currently wielded. Loki, of course, could not respond to that query and Thor did not expect him to. Loki's muzzle effectively suppressed him from uttering a single word better yet any incantation or spell. Loki sighed heavily through his nose, feeling the impact of how far he had fallen after he had pratically been intoxicated with that temporary sensation of victory. The fleetingness of the ordeal just now settling in as if it had found Loki's hubris a suitable home for its relentless administrations.

Thor's face regained its impassive expression as Loki was led into their father's accommodations.

Instantly, Loki's shackled appearance attracted plenty of stares, not to mention jeers, as Thor led his stunned brother further underneath Odin's all-knowing gaze. With every step they took, Loki's anticipation sky-rocketed until they were at a respectable distance from their father.

Odin, as predicted, was livid. It was as if steam radiated off of him in his anger as Odin drank in the sight of his forever-troublemaking charge. Odin regarded Loki with a critical eye that would have shaken him if Thor wasn't keeping him taut.

"Loki!" the All-father boomed, his voice shaking the castle walls.

Odin shook his head furiously, "Here you stand before me, once again, to face mine judgment after reeking unrighteous havoc upon yet another realm! I warn you now; you are NOT going to favor the outcome of my reason when I am through with you! You have awakened the all-father's fury for the last time!"

Loki's eyes swam in between desperation and the natural impulse to dispute his case. He looked to Thor who didn't bother to return his gaze, instead obediently awaiting Odin's approval.

"Thor, remove this petulant fool's mouth device. I would hear him now."

Nodding, Thor ripped the device off Loki's mouth who flinched from the force of the gesture before regaining his composure to look up at Odin uncertainly.

"Ah…" He began, trying to choose his words carefully. That's when his silver tongue kicked in. "Father, why do you allow Thor to treat me so? I meant Asgard no harm in my actions! I only wished to rule a senseless planet with no purpose whatsoever. What is it to you if I were to become king there? I'd be off your back forever more, would I not? You-"

"SILENCE." With this single command from Odin a hush reigned throughout the entire area.

"I see now that you only wish to plead for an innocence you've never possessed. Although, it does dismay me so…to see you bound up in these chains, you have still unleashed a rage in me like none before. Yet you dare to stand before me, the all-father, with the mindset that you are blameless!" Odin glared down fiercely at the cause of his anger whom tried very hard to suppress a flinch at his father's tone.

"Innocence knows not your name, ignorant boy! You are beyond guilty! You've managed to threaten not one, not two, but THREE realms! Over what? Mere jealousy? " Odin suddenly stopped speaking for a moment, so overwhelmed in his fury that it looked as if it took everything in his power to keep himself from ripping into Loki right then.

"Tis poignant after thinking you to be dead, mourning your loss…all of us." Odin shook his head. "Even in your forged fatality, Loki, you are a fraud. Perhaps we would all have a better state of mind if you never performed this act of treason, and we were still left to believe you to be dead."

A cord of pain like never before struck Loki then from Odin's choice of words. Was his father saying that he was better off dead? Loki shifted uneasily in his chains causing them to rattle soundly from the motion. So that was it then. Odin would order that he be killed. After all these years, the trickster would finally be taken out of the picture, so Asgard could live in harmony.

Scowling, Loki still refused to go out without defending himself; Loki looked directly into his father's eye and opened his mouth to say, "Surely father your many years of existence are beginning to affect your rationality. What realms have I offended other than Jotunheim and Midgard? Where is the third option in this equation?" he inquired, fist clenched as if he was ready for anything.

Odin glared at Loki so harshly that the latter nearly withered into the floor in fear.

"Asgard, you inane fool! You risked your own realm and the realm of Jotunheim just to harm Thor and the mortal woman he grew fond of. Then you targeted Midgard as well after simulating your own death!"

"I did nothing of the sort!" Loki snapped, not liking the fact that Odin was now listing the misdeeds he'd yet to be punished for because he had fallen into the abyss. "I never drew you to believe that I had died! I merely vanished for a while. I chose not to inform Asgard of my whereabouts as my future was not your affair!"

Rising menacingly from his throne, Odin scowled darkly at his adopted son with clenched fists, "Clearly, it was. Look at all the trouble you've caused. The lives you've taken. You play no child's game, Loki. You are dangerous, and you're putting people's lives at stake with your actions."

Shaking with ill-contained rage, Loki took a step forward, a bead of sweat forming on his brow, "What is it to you? I'm. Not. Your. Son." He seethed through gritted teeth.

Sighing, Odin ran a hand over his face wearily as he prepared himself to conjure up a suitable sentence. He didn't understand why Loki had taken to constantly playing this charade that he was not and would never be Odin's son yet the minute he wanted something to go his way he quickly reverted back to calling him 'father.' When Odin once again spoke it was in an icy, calm voice that sent a chill up everyone's spine unfortunate enough to hear it.

"Seeing as how you are beyond reasoning, I'll try to get through that thick skull of yours with a more…diverse technique."

Anger left him like air leaves the lungs, Loki looked up at his father in shock. Could it be? He was not being banished?

"Are you saying that…you are not going to banish me?" he inquired incredulously.

Instantly, a few murmurs rose up from the assembly and Thor was also struck with the plague of confusion.

"Nay." Odin answered, waving his hand dismissively.

"I've tried that method many times in the past yet you still fail to grasp the message, Loki. It was out of love for you that I constantly allowed you to return home yet here you stand yet again, cloaked in a shame that you yourself refuse to acknowledge. Nevertheless, your juvenile actions reveal to me that throughout all these years, perhaps I have been punishing you all wrong."

Loki muttered, looking thoroughly exasperated. "Level me with whatever punishment you can conjure up, sire. I grow tired of standing here…"

Even Thor raised his eyebrow at that one. The gall of his brother! Did he not realize the bottomless depth of the hole he had already dug himself?

Odin stroked his beard as he thought on what Loki had said. At this point, Odin had become slightly desperate when it came to taming Loki's unruly behavior. Loki had truly become a disobedient and downright disrespectful individual throughout the years. He was rude and self-centered. He cared nothing of the people around him or anywhere else. It was as if his heart was made of stone. Odin realized a long time ago that he required something other than banishment to curb the relentless stream of defiance. Loki was acting like an irresponsible minor, and he would be treated as such, and perhaps an outdated, unrealistic approach was just what his adopted son needed.

Loki's mind seemed to forever wallow in the past, thus turning him bitter and irrational in all of his decisions. He needed more than the occasional banishment or strangling. What he required was a firm hand to set his standards and make him learn something for once.

After a while, Odin had come to a conclusion as Loki sighed impatiently, wishing Thor would free him of his chains so he could flex his arms and revitalize his joints.

Unmoved by Loki's impatience, Odin simply pinned Loki with a penetrating stare fading in the slightest as he slowly lowered himself down onto his throne.

"Thor, remove your brother's chains."

"Yes father."

Thor obediently reached forward and tore off the chains as well, leaving them to clatter to the floor noisily. Grimacing, Loki rubbed his wrists and glared at Thor in spite of being released.

"Not to worry, Loki, you won't be standing any longer." Odin added in a composed voice, his son's initiative only fueling his set motive.

A hint of anticipation flickered in Loki's green eyes as he caught the all-father's gaze apprehensively. What was this old man drawling on about now?

Smirking at the utter confusion painted on his son's face, Odin simply crooked a finger and said.

"Loki, come forth."

Eyebrows sky-rocketing, Loki stopped rubbing his wrists to cock his head in confusion at Odin's command.

"Why..?" he muttered, the fear finally showing in his voice as he imagined that suffocating grasp once more. "W-what are you going to do?"

Sighing, Odin decided that he did not need to procrastinate any longer.

"What I should have done a long time ago. Now come to me!"

Eyes widening, Loki glanced at Thor who seemed extremely interested in the exchange all of a sudden. Then again, so was everyone else in the court. The crowd had begun to murmur again, most likely discussing Loki's stupidity and his constant disobedience of his father's orders.

"N-no, I refuse." He said, taking a step back and then another. He looked as if he would break off running any minute now. Eyebrows creasing, Odin knew then that Loki would not come to him willingly. It was sad how Loki couldn't even obey a simple command like an adult. Loki's actions wiped away any form of regret or doubt he held in his mind. His motive was now solid as stone.

"Loki, I warn you now, run and your punishment will only be worse!"

Thor glared at his brother as he backed away slowly. Did he not realize that even if he did run there was no way he could reach the door in time before he was surrounded by several Asgardian guards, including himself? Odin shook his head wearily, Loki always had to do things the hard way.

"Thor."

Eyebrows raised, the blonde-headed Asgardian looked up at his father. Getting the hint, Thor nodded and turned swiftly, grabbing Loki so fast that the latter didn't even have time to move a single muscle in evasion.

"No! Thor, unhand me!" Thor ignored Loki as he dragged his struggling sibling up Odin's throne and deposited him unceremoniously at Odin's feet. The trickster made a strange noise as he hit the floor, glaring at Thor as he rubbed his injured head.

"I was going to comply, if you were to just be patient!"

"I've been patient with you all your life, Loki." Odin growled menacingly,

"I believe that it is about time we get to the point."

Snatching Loki up by the collar of his shirt, Odin dragged Loki up off the floor and tossed him over his lap. Baffled, Loki looked back at Odin with confusion flickering idly in his verdant irises.

"Wha…what do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like?" Odin said matter-of-factly, regarding Loki with a raised eyebrow. "I am going to tan your hindquarters."

Gaping, Loki was only snapped out of his shock when Odin began to shift him forward on his lap and secure him so he wouldn't be able to wriggle off. This had to be a joke…a jest…a nightmare…Odin was only kidding with him. He wouldn't actually raise his hand and-

SMACK

"Ah!"

A gasp erupted throughout the room as if everyone were just coming to terms with this unexpected sight themselves.

Thor, who stood directly in front of them, struggled to keep his jaw from hanging in disbelief. He felt a hand tug on his arm and lead him down the steps. He turned to see Frigga, pulling him aside to stand by her. She also seemed a bit shocked but also more satisfied with Odin's current course of action rather than anything else.

By the time the third swat had come down, Loki had regained his senses and began struggling anew.

"What is this madness? Do you not see I am too old for this treatment! I will not be-Ah!" Loki was cut off from his tirade by yet another hard smack. He couldn't believe this! His father was actually chastising him with a child's punishment!

Loki felt he did nothing to deserve humiliation to this degree. His eyes began to wander the room as Odin carried on with this ridiculous correction. The congregation had gone deathly quiet, the sound of Odin slapping Loki more audible than his occasional yelps. Some people even had the nerve to look approving of Odin's actions while others looked either confused or on the verge of laughing their heads off.

Squeezing his eyes shut to block them out, Loki gripped Odin's thigh tightly and tried to talk some sense into him, "Father you are being outrageous! This is not protocol!" He argued, wincing at a particularly hard slap. He pushed down hard on Odin's thigh and tried to thrust himself off but his efforts were in vain.

Rolling his eye, Odin sped up the tempo and tightened the arm he had wrapped around Loki's waist.

"What is protocol doesn't tend to aide you in receiving the message I constantly try to teach you." He denounced, delivering five harsh smacks in the same spot causing Loki to jerk forward with a start eyes unbelievably wide.

Loki kicked his legs angrily, furious that this was actually hurting him. "This will not teach me! " He cried, looking around the room once more. "You only make a mockery of your court!"

Glaring, Odin tipped Loki forward a bit so his kicking legs could no longer interfere with his punishment. Cold-blooded fear wrapped itself around Loki's heart as a feeling of helplessness suddenly overcame him. How long would this go on exactly? He barely could take any more of this handling before he would eventually break! That thought made Loki squirm vigorously in order to get free. He would not give Odin the satisfaction in hearing him break down! Odin administrated a hefty amount of smacks before he spoke again, ignoring his son's pleas.

"No, Loki, _you_ make a mockery of this court, Asgard, and of anything you feel the need to strip of honor…" a particularly hard slap had Loki holler a yelp that bordered on a scream.

"You deceive yourself, Loki; this punishment does indeed have an effect on you. Why else would you be wriggling about like this?"

"No it doesn't, you are a fool!"

Sighing, Odin shook his head. They would indeed be here for a while. Odin grabbed the waistband of his son's britches and dragged them down in one swift motion. He then started anew in kindling the fire on his son's rear.

A sudden breeze of air swept over Loki's bottom and he was left completely mortified beyond words before an exuberant onslaught of slaps came down on his ass to which his struggling increased ten-fold.

"No father-AH! Put those back up!"

"You are the only foolish one here, Loki." Odin remarked, eyebrows drawn as he continued the onslaught. "How dare you call yourself a man. A man would not put himself in this position, nor would he try to murder people over a petty family feud."

Odin's words stung Loki almost more than the relentless smacks, but he argued nonetheless.

Wiggling about over Odin's lap, Loki cried out. "S-stop!"

"I've yet to show you the formidable extent of my strength, Loki." Loki arched his back and screeched in tremendous pain. The sting had become unbearable! He didn't think it was possible but the torture had gotten even worse! The fact that his father had yet to tire of this and the promise of further pain brought tears to his eyes. He wriggled and squirmed though no matter how much he struggled he couldn't evade a single swat or get away from his father. Not seeing any other way out, Loki shot his hand back in an effort to protect his posterior from further abuse. Though this feat proved useless for Odin only scooped the offending appendage up in one mighty fist and pinned it to Loki's back.

"I yield, father! Enough!" he cried, face burning in shame as his tears spilled over. "I've…learned w-what you have been trying to teach me!"

Loki howled in pain as Odin brought down a particularly harsh slap, "Do not convey your false thoughts unto me! I will hear none of them!"

"B-but I speak the truth, please! I do not lie to you this-AH! I see the error of my ways, and I wish to-OW! Father, please, hear me out!" Loki was severely ashamed to have resorted to begging, but he had no other hope to cling to! He wanted this anguish to end!

Loki looked back at his father with big watery eyes, begging him to provide him with any sort of leverage. Odin merely shook his head and continued on in silence. This only terrified Loki more, and he began to struggle anew, screaming until he was hoarse.

After a while, his body went completely limp over his father's lap and he was left utterly exhausted. Seeing this, Odin decided that it was time to wrap up the punishment. He paused for a moment, causing Loki to raise his head in surprise and glance back at Odin.

"Hm." Odin looked up and began scanning the crowd for something. "You." He nodded to the person he called out to, and that person stepped forward, looking slightly confused.

"Would you be so kind as to lend me your belt?"

Loki's eyes shot open and he bucked up in instant horror, "NO!" he shrieked, twisting back so he could look at Odin. "Father, I'm sorry! I've had enough! Please! I'm sorry, please don't! I can't take anymore!"

Slightly surprised, Odin only regarded Loki when the man handed him his belt and walked back to join the crowd.

"Ah, now I see we have made progress." He observed, folding the belt and raising it high. Eyes as big as plates, Loki scrambled to get off his lap but Odin's grip kept him secured. When the belt came down Loki was introduced to an entirely new world of pain. He lurched forward, screaming and kicking roughly. Then he fell limp onto his father's lap once more face flushed as he burst into tears, his body now raking with fresh sobs.

"I'll give you twenty licks with the belt. Perhaps it would have been five if you had but not ran before."

Loki simply buried his face into his hands and wept despondently, his anatomy revealing just how distressed he was, physically and mentally.

The belt came down in rapid quick succession, leaving no break in between them and thus reducing Loki to a blubbering mess as he wailed sorrowfully at each and every one of them. The crowd actually became concerned at the 10th swat for Loki looked truly broken. By the 15th Odin paused and looked down at his tearful son. It saddened him to see him behave so, knowing full well that his own hand was the cause of his son's agony. Though, Loki did have this coming for a long time.

"For the remainder of your punishment, I want you to list the several reasons why we are here in the first place." Odin said softly, shifting Loki forward a bit so the more vulnerable areas of his ass were available to hit as this lesson would stick more firmly than any other.

Loki whimpered in response to his father's order but when Odin began to shift him forward he quickly nodded, the fight literally beaten out of him. A sarcastic remark had found its way onto the tip of his tongue but he had fought it down, no longer wishing to further provoke Odin's wrath.

When the 16th swat rang home, Loki jumped up with a start, a scream leaving his lips. Odin paused and looked down at him expectantly. Breathing deeply Loki tried to think of an offense worthy enough to end his agony.

"I-I…tr..tried…to c-conquer…Midgard" he sniveled, his sobbing making it very hard for him to speak in between his gasps and his huge intakes of air.

Taking pity on his son, Odin delivered the 17th and 18th swat so fast that Loki could barely tell that they had been two swats instead of one, but his reaction to them was the same nonetheless.

"What else?"

"I…um...uh..." Suddenly his mind went blank. He couldn't help but focus on anything but the intense pain he was feeling!

His hesitance cost him dearly as another smarting sting sucked the very breath out of Loki as he bellowed in agony.

To which Odin ordered harshly, "Answer me."

"I murdered people!" he shrieked, gripping Odin's thigh as if his life depended on it.

"Better." Odin once again raised the belt. "That one didn't count because of your delay."

"Noooo!" he whined, feeling very sorry for himself as his cherry red ass throbbed painfully. The belt came down again and Loki wailed out his discomfort.

"S-surely that is all my misdeeds!" he argued, looking back desperately at Odin. Odin raised an eyebrow and lifted the belt. Loki squeaked at the sight of the thing and quickly tried to mend his mistake.

"No, No! Wait! I um…"

Odin sighed deeply. "Loki, if you do not know then perhaps we are not yet done."

Eyes huge, Loki blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I unleashed the Chitauri!"

And with that the belt came down one final time, relieved beyond words, Loki once again went limp and sobbed miserably.

"We're done here." Odin proclaimed, replacing Loki's pants and pushing him up to stand. Prying his hands from his face, Odin turned Loki to face the congregation.

"Apologize." He ordered a serious look once again in his eye.

"T-to whom?" Loki hiccupped, rubbing tearfully at his swollen eyes.

"To everyone here."

Loki released a strangled choke at the command but was unusually quick to obey nonetheless.

"I….I apologize for my…hideous behavior…"

For a moment, no one said anything. A bout of silence plagued the area as everyone stood stricken with shock. Had Loki-God of Mischief- just…apologized? A righteous cheer broke out from the assembly followed by a quantity of applause.

Smiling, Odin clapped his pouting son on the shoulder.

"Wasn't so difficult, was it?"

Loki humbly bowed his head and sprinted down the steps, absconding back to his bed chambers as fast as he could.

Thor looked after his brother with knitted eyebrows. Never had he seen his brother cry so or carry on with such childish antics. He looked to his father, knowing full well that the all-father had achieved something no one else ever could have.

He had broken Loki.

When all the cheering had died down, Thor went to speak to Odin his words tinged with surprise and worry, "Never would I have seen such a punishment as beneficial father, but your wisdom knows no bounds. What have you planned for Loki now?"

Odin leaned back into his throne as he continued to ponder a moment, "Loki is far from tamed, but I do believe we have discovered an important tool to help curb his flagrant disregard for others when the deeds he does will so adversely affect him."

Thor nodded his agreement, "I am certain with Loki's stubbornness one good tanning will not be the end of his mischief. His arrogance has grown too great."

Odin sighed, "I know your words to ring true Thor. Loki needs a vigilant and watchful eye to show him he will obey as well as knowing that we care for him. With all of Asgard to tend, I am left wanting in such a task, so I will ask of you Thor, would you be willing to be burdened with enforcing such rule over your sibling?"

Thor's brow furrowed in confusion, "Me, father? I would readily do as you wish, but Loki is quite formidable in his knowledge of sorcery…"

Odin shook his head cutting Thor off, "Not to worry of that, I have already stripped Loki of his magic as he has yet to realize. I plan to keep him for a time in the privacy of his room to think on all that has transpired and why. I allow you to return to Midgard to be with your Jane and to continue to be the protector of its denizens. Once you feel that you have adjusted, you may call on me, and we can discuss Loki's future handling."

Thor nodded somberly, "I do not take this quest lightly father. I will do my best not to fail you or Loki."

Odin smiled proudly at Thor, "I have no doubt you of any will be able to help Loki remember he's a part of our family whether he likes it or not."


End file.
